1-9, St Mary'S Buildings

This is a row of nine terrace houses at 1-9 St Mary’s Buildings, dating to circa 1820. The terrace is attributed to the architect John Pinch. The buildings are constructed from limestone ashlar, with slate roofs at the front and concrete tile to the rear, except for number 4. The plan is a double-depth format.

The houses are three storeys in height and each two windows wide, featuring arched ground floor openings with entrances to the left. Decorative features include plat bands, a triglyph frieze, a cornice, and parapets that swoop upwards to align with the neighboring building to the right. The windows are sash windows with eight panes on the upper floors, six panes on the first floor, and stone sills. Most have six-panel doors topped with a fanlight, although the door at number 1 has been replaced with a 20th-century glazed door. Ashlar chimney stacks rise from each ridge. Number 1 (St Mary's Lodge) has an additional 20th-century bay at the left-hand end with a central entry from the north, and numbers 1 and 2 are rebuilds. Number 5 has a full-width ornamental iron balustrade at first-floor level. Paired gate piers with moulded capitals define the front wall.

The rear elevation is primarily constructed of coursed and squared stone, but to the right of each house there is a section of ashlar, likely infill for deep light wells. A cavetto cornice runs along the blocking and parapet, stepped rather than swept. Most rear windows are twelve-pane sash windows at three levels to the left, and single sash windows, sometimes with sixteen panes, to the right, providing access to the staircase area, and with doors leading to a rear yard. Number 4 has a glazed door on the first floor. Numbers 1-3 have deep later wings. Each house has a small enclosed yard, typically with a lean-to unit to one side, and an external yard wall constructed from stepped ashlar block, rising approximately 2.5 to 3.5 meters above the sloping site.

Interior inspections have previously revealed a stone staircase and reeded chimneypieces at number 6, and at number 9, a closed string wooden staircase and similar chimneypieces. Historic records indicate that Pinch’s signature appears on some of the deeds relating to the properties. This is a fine terrace, with minimal external alterations. The design incorporates upswept parapets, a characteristic motif of John Pinch’s work, used to unite the composition and resolve the challenges presented by the sloping site, particularly prevalent on the Bathwick Estate from around 1810.